What Are Skate Bushings?

While its roots date back to the 1920s, when it gave surfers the opportunity to practice on land, skateboarding didn't gain attention as a sport until the 1970s. Through the 1990s, the skateboard itself underwent several technical changes, allowing riders to perform a number of tricks that were not thought possible before these upgrades. The trucks of a skateboard hold the wheels together and allow riders to turn sharply.

  1. Bushing Function

    • The bushings of a skateboard are rubber rings that sit nestled into the skateboard's truck, allowing it to turn and perform under extreme pressure. All modern truck manufacturers design their products with two bushings. A larger bushing sits in the heart of the truck, providing stability for the rider. A smaller bushing is positioned above the kingpin, or nut, of the skateboard truck. The smaller bushing allows the truck to be tightened or loosened, enabling riders to customize how they turn on the skateboard.

    Bushing Settings

    • A tighter bushing setting is usually positioned for riders to be able to perform tricks without landing in an awkward, and sometimes dangerous, way. A looser setup allows riders to turn more easily, but the setup is purely at the discretion of the rider. A looser setting will cause the bushings to wear more easily, while a tighter setting will be more forgiving in the long run.

    Bushing Maintenance

    • Because bushings are put through so much stress from daily riding, it is best to regularly maintain your truck bushings in order to keep your skateboard performing at its best. If your bushings are starting to lose shape, it is time to change these parts. Fortunately, skateboard maintenance is relatively easy. Many skateboard shops carry skate tools, featuring all of the necessary wrenches and screwdrivers necessary to remove the individual parts of the skateboard.

    Bushing Brands

    • Every truck manufacturer produces its own style and type of bushings. A few of these truck manufacturers include Venture, Tensor, Fury, Independent and Krux. While each of these companies provides unique settings synonymous with its brand name, some companies also sell bushings that you can change at any time and for any reason. Companies such as Bones and Doh Doh offer different types of bushings that fit any type of truck. These bushings can come in soft, medium and hard designs, giving riders complete custom control over how their trucks perform. Most manufacturers offer bushing replacements that come in sets of two, for two different trucks. With this in mind, it is best to have the same type of bushings for both of the trucks on your skateboard.